Sous la Lune Rose
by ladyamalphia
Summary: Don't do it...' Sonic breathed in agony, his face pressed helplessly against his prison wall. 'Don't do it...' But he could only watch as his friends destroyed themselves and each other.
1. La Prison Cinq étoile

**A/N: **Allo again, friends :D! Drivin', drivin', drivin... Seriously, this is not cool. We are on our way down to Vail, Colorado for a March Break of amazingness. The states are so warm in March :D I'm jealous. It's unpleasantly crowded stuffed in this van with my parents, two kids and a 6'5'' 17-year-old guy... but it promises some good writing time. And it took me fifteen minutes to find the delete button on this laptop's keyboard T.T. So anyways, this story is my project for the six days we're spending on the road. Hooray. Soo... It'll be coming on when I get home :). Hmm... unless the hotels will have internet.

Anyways, umm here ya go :). I've actually got a plot planned out for this one (I know, gasp, eh?) so no obscure improvising this time :3.

--LA

* * *

All these gorgeous gals 'n' fellas belong to SEGA, which I plan to overthrow one day.

* * *

Sonic had many fans. Countless individuals who idolized, even worshipped him. Unfortunately, it was becoming terribly apparent that Mother Nature was not one of them.

The hail was a sledgehammer on his skull as he tried to trudge through its driving forces. The vicious ice balls pelted his entire body, taking no mercy on the more sensitive parts. The wind was a gigantic, invisible hand holding him back with cruel fingers. And worst of all, he couldn't even run. Knee-deep in the frigid slush that coated the ground, even walking posed a laborious challenge. His beloved shoes soaked and sopping, he had to lift his knees to his chest every step just to move in a forward direction.

"How you doin' over there?" He called over the pounding precipitation to the equally exhausted figure walking at his side, barely visible. Tails smiled weakly in response, his teeth clattering too violently to answer. The hedgehog couldn't help but feel his original irritation towards his friend melt away. After all, Tails had just been true to his shy, cautious self when he had insisted that they land the plane and march the rest of the way. Sonic was suspicious about whether Tails had made the call with their, or the machine's wellbeing in mind.

"Y'know, Tails," Sonic continued, trying to pass the time by making conversation, "I still think your plane could've made it through the storm."

"N-no..." The fox said with a sheepish sneeze, "the wind's v-velocity was too high, and th-the-"

"All right, all right. I got it." The hedgehog said in defeat, reaching out, although his arm was attacked by endless sheets of hail, and ruffling his friend's soggy bangs. "So how much longer do we have to walk?"

"I th-think that we're about t-two-hundred metres away from m-my house." Tails stuttered back, wading through the icy mess.

The duo continued to slog forward, soundless except for the sloshing at their feet and the rattling of Tails' jaw.

At long last, a dim building could be made out through the gray sky. The miserable weather made Sonic's spirit sink. His weather-induced pessimism only made the house seem miles further away.

But finally, after what seemed like eons of fruitless trudging, the boys finally reached the front of Tails' home. As far as Sonic was concerned, it had never looked more inviting.

He didn't stop to think about how the neighbouring houses were seemingly nonexistent, or how the building seemed to flicker oddly every so often, as he jogged towards the house with Tails close in his wake.

"Sonic..." Said Tails uncertainly, halting suddenly.

"Huh?" Sonic asked, glancing over his shoulder, "What's up?"

Tails pursed his lip, looking anxious. "I don't think this is my house..."

"You're just delusional," Sonic said with a dismissive wink, "because your teeth shook up your brain with all their jumping around in your mouth."

Tails smiled nervously. "I guess you're right..." He said, though he was not completely convinced. The fox kept his suspicions about him.

Sonic hopped down the driveway, the pool at his feet growing shallower as he traversed the mild slant to the front door.

"S-Sonic..." Tails whispered, peering around, as the hedgehog reached for the doorknob...

It was then that the fox's waterlogged mind noticed the doorknob.

"Sonic!" He yelped, diving forward to stop his friend.

But he landed a second too late. The moment the hedgehog's gloved hand made contact with the handle, he disappeared, accompanied by an unceremonious flash of dull, white light.

Tails gawked in horror at the spot where Sonic had stood only moments before. The fox backed away from the house with frightened haste, slipping and landing in the icy slush so that his already frozen fur was coated with a new layer of ice. As he struggled back to his feet, his shocked eyes fell upon the house. It had disappeared.

Tails stared with wide eyes, his bottom lip trembling, scrambling over to where the building had stood only moments before. Submerged beneath the sleet, Tails noticed a fist-size cube. Hands already numb, he reached in and lifted it gingerly. It was, he realized without hesitation, a hologram projector. That was why the house had seemed so strange; it was only an illusion. Tails sniffed and, though his entire body was frozen and aching, squirmed away. He flung the projector away in frustration and struggled off.

* * *

It was the temperature that first awoke Sonic. A tropical, humid warmth hanging in the air that made him feel drowsy and comfortable. At first, he could have mistaken the plush covering him for his own bed. Casually, he lifted his body and glanced mildly at his surroundings. It appeared to be some sort of oversized hotel room, complete with a large, squishy bed. The walls were completely blank, and an unpleasant, sterile white, except for a huge window, covered by an off-white curtain. He was completely relaxed and cozy until his memory piped up.

The hedgehog snapped his eyes open, and bolted upright. He knew the moment he sat up that he was alone. The room was eerily silent, and he could practically hear dust gathering...

So why did he feel like he was being watched?

_Tap, tap, tap..._

Sonic's ears perked up. The sound was coming from the window. He hopped to his feet and walked cautiously towards it, noticing soft carpet under his naked feet. Unsure of what to expect, he drew the blinds.

"Having a nice stay, hedgehog?"

"Eggman..." Sonic growled at the huge, spherical figure standing on the other side of the thick glass. "Where's Tails?"

"Now now..." the doctor scolded, furrowing his brow, "That's no hello for the future ruler of the world."

Sonic chuckled and rolled his eyes. "Not this again."

"Oh yes... this again." Eggman grinned wickedly. "But this time, you're the damsel in distress... not that pink rat of yours."

"What are you talking about?" Sonic asked casually, filtering the panic from his voice.

"You heroes are all the same." He said. Sonic sighed, knowing that voice... a triumphant, mocking speech was on its way. "Pathetic and predictable. Right now, the little fox will be swimming like a baby to cry to your little posse. When he gets there, he'll wail about how you tragically disappeared without a trace, and they'll all band together to rescue their precious Sonic. "Sonic would do the same thing for us"" he said, putting on a whiney voice, ""We've gotta save him!"

Sonic smirked. "You do a great impression of Knuckles," He said, stretching his arms above his head offhandedly, "but I'm gonna get out of here."

He backed away from the glass and threw himself into it, curling himself into a spinning sphere. But to his surprise, the window didn't shatter as he had anticipated. Instead, he continued to grind up against it in vain, hearing the doctor's amused laughter.

"Try all you want, hedgehog." He said dismissively. "You can't break through. And besides, your friends should be arriving pretty soon..."

"What are you going to do to them?" Sonic demanded in a growl, returning to his feet.

A massive, maniacal grin stretched across the doctor's wide face. "There's the beauty of it, Sonic... I'm not doing anything. I don't need to do anything... they can take care of themselves."

* * *

"I'm not going out there!" Knuckles growled, his eyes jumping between the typhoon outside, and Tails' drenched face.

"Knuckles!" Amy cried angrily, smacking the echidna in the side of the head, "We've got to go after him! We've gotta go rescue him!"

"I'm sure Eggman's behind it." Tails said, pulling a few chunks of ice from his bangs. "Sonic touched some sort of teleportation device that sent him somewhere."

"Well what are we going to do?" Amy demanded, crossing her arms. Tails raised his defensively.

"Well, I'm not sure," he said, looking harassed, "but I should be able to track its trail pretty easily as soon as the storm clears up."

"Well hurry up!" She cried desperately. "You know he'd do the same for us!"

* * *

**A/N: **Well, waddaya know :D? This gorgeous hotel's got internet. Suhweeet. You know, I'm actually getting pretty used to this whole typing-with-two-centimetres-of-elbow-space thing. The twelve-hour days are a bit tiring... but it's not too bad :3. Ermm... I apologise for this chapter 0.o. This is really smelly T.T. I promise that there'll actually be a plot once the next chapters come... and they're on their way. I'm not exactly short on time.

Soo... thank you for checking this out, and some great reviews would make my day :).

--LA


	2. Malheureux Confortable

**A/N**Ohh gosh xP! I realized I made a bleghy mistake! I had to change the 'le' to 'la' in my title because, of course, la lune is feminine -.-'! By the way, any of you non-francophones, 'Sous LA Lune Rose' means 'Under the Pink Moon.' You'll get it later :P...

Alrightie... so I've got my gingerbread late from Starbucks, and I am so ready for another loongg day C:!

--LA

* * *

I'm still not used to this laptop's keys. And vista's Word confuses me T.T. Anyways, every character who shows their pretty face in my story belongs to SEGA!

* * *

Sonic was imprisoned in heaven. As if the plush bed and cozy room had not been enough, a tower of chilli dogs had been delivered to the room, as if on cue, as soon as he began to feel hungry. They sat, untouched, in a corner, their aroma tantalizing. Despite a nagging hunger, Sonic knew better than to eat anything served by the doctor. Other than his hunger, the hedgehog might have been relaxed.

But he was far from it. A blindingly bright overhead light with a pink hue glared down on him nonstop making him feel itchy and anxious, and he was horribly worried about his friends. He had spent the entire previous day trying to escape from the room, searching in vain for some sort of pressure point in the walls.

And he was irritated at the disappearance of his shoes; being barefoot made him feel naked.

He had also taken a closer look through the huge window. In great contrast to his current habitat, it lead into a huge room containing what looked like a miniature forest, complete with a murky lake and towering pine trees. He didn't bother trying to think of an explanation, grimly certain that he would figure out soon enough.

He couldn't get the doctor's words out of his head.

"They can take care of themselves..."

What was that supposed to mean? Was he going to force them to duel to the death or something like that?

"Good morning, Sonic..." sounded a familiar, crackling voice from above his head.

"Hey, Eggy." The hedgehog said offhandedly, scratching his ear. "Ruler of the world yet?"

"All in good time." The voice replied dismissively. "Besides, I've got something else in mind at the moment."

Sonic eyed the pink light above his head, the source of the voice, in suspicion.

He had a feeling that it shelled not only a speaker, but a camera.

"Won't it make a wonderful statement when you being locked up is broadcast worldwide?" he asked happily, "When the public sees that Sonic the Hedgehog is my captive, they'll finally realise my power, and will bow to my every command."

"Good luck with that." Sonic said casually. He winked at the camera. "Well, I'm flattered, but I'm pretty photogenic... I don't mind being watched. What's your plan, anyways? I'll be out of here soon enough."

"Don't hold your breath." Eggman said darkly. The dull buzzing of the speaker shut off and the uncomfortable silence returned as always, faithful as a lost puppy.

* * *

"Almost there..." Tails said quietly, eyes fixed on the scanner in his hands. It was programmed to pick up the slight trail left behind when matter was transported. He stopped suddenly, causing the train of people behind him to jam into each other. Amy, at the front of the group, quickly composed herself and peered around impatiently. The others, Knuckles, Cream (who had begged her mother for permission to come along on the adventure), and Cheese, slowly regained their bearings and returned to their feet.

"This should be the spot..." Tails muttered, waving the scanner.

"Here?" Amy demanded, "Why on earth would anyone-"

But before she could finish her verbal abuse, the ground beneath her collapsed and she fell into a gaping, black pit. Before the others could react, they too, followed her into the abyss. Cheese hovered above the hole frightfully. His instincts told him to stay away, but he had seen Cream go down the intimidating hole. As he was about to follow, the hole shut its mouth with a mechanical lurch, leaving an innocent-looking patch of dirt, perfectly seamless with its surroundings.

The chao squealed and fluttered off fervently.

* * *

"Your guests have arrived, Sonic."

The smothering silence was broken, making the hedgehog jump.

"Just take a peek through your window." The doctor's voice jeered. "You've got the best seat in the house."

Sonic did as he was told, hopping off the bed and stepping towards the window. He drew the blinds, uncertain of what to expect.

It was with great relief that he saw four of his friends; Tails, Amy, Knuckles, and Cream.

"Hey, guys!" He laughed, tapping at the glass. They didn't seem to notice, only peered around the small forest looking shaken and confused.

"They can't hear or see you." The doctor said, sounding ecstatic. "It's one-way glass. And look! I've got a few more to add to my collection!"

Sonic watched as five more figures tumbled into the room from a shaft in the ceiling. The Chaotix, accompanied by Rouge, then Shadow?

The inhabitants of the space greeted each other in confusion, all taking in their new container uncertainly. Shadow glared around, grim-faced, arms crossed.

Sonic could only imagine the dialogue which would be going on within the enclosed space. Knuckles and Rouge were grinding heads, while the others made their way around the room, exploring its geography.

"How did you get them all together?" The hedgehog asked, glancing up at the pink sphere.

"Oh, I didn't." Eggman replied, sounding pleased with himself. "I had to go all over to find them all... And a couple of them put up a fight. Shadow actually had to be paralyzed. I had to send a robot to sedate him while he was sleeping. I had to be certain that he didn't have a chaos emerald."

"Okay..." Sonic said slowly, "So you've managed to give them a reunion. I still don't see the diabolical plot in all this."

"Well," the doctor said wickedly, "look again."

The buzzing of the speaker ceased, and Sonic turned back, terrified of what might meet his eyes.

He was relieved to see no change. They just continued to converse anxiously...

Knuckles shouted something at shadow, who growled a response that made the echidna's eyes widen in fury. He raised his fist...

A sudden flash of light engulfed the forest room, shining so brightly that Sonic had to turn away.

When the luminosity subdued, the hedgehog, bracing himself for the worst, clenched his jaw and peered into the room, though his eyes had not readjusted to the new lighting.

When the glare of the light finally faded from his vision, the room appeared, to his horror, completely empty. A pile of clothes and accessories lay crumpled where they had stood, but the animals were nowhere to be seen. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought that he saw something large slink towards the pond, but the water was still when he turned his head to get a better look.

"What did you do?" Sonic snarled, zooming to the center of the room so that he was square to the camera. No deriding voice replied, so Sonic returned his attention to the wooded room.

He noticed something move... a wide eyed, orange-furred beast, about a foot and a half high at its shoulder. Its furry face was alert and keen, and it stood on four tiny paws. Two long, bushy tails sprouted out of its behind.

"Tails..." Sonic murmured in horror, staring fixedly at the tiny fuzz ball which could only be his friend.

The fox sniffed the ground uncertainly, then peered around the room and scratched at the ground. After a moment, his ears perked up and he dashed into the cover of the trees.

Sonic furrowed his brow in concerned thoughtfulness. If Tails had been transformed into this unusual form, the others should have too...

He wondered what they would look like. The bizarre creature Tails had changed into certainly didn't resemble a fox.

The hedgehog watched in silent concentration, keeping an eye out for any other movement. But, now that the fox had disappeared out of sight, the room was still.

Sonic simply wasn't patient enough to sit unmoving for long periods of time. He soon sighed and took a final glance into the forest enclosure before hopping onto the bed in discontent.

The hedgehog decided to look on the bright side of the situation. At least no one was dead. And Sonic was confident that he would escape the room one way or another; he always did. And he was sure that somehow his friends' strange transformations could be reversed. The way he saw it, all he needed to do was to not die of boredom. He slouched back on the bed and grinned at the camera. He flashed a rude hand gesture and winked.

"That one's for you Egghead."

* * *

**A/N:**Sniffles...Why doesn't my brain like me?! Do I stink or something?! It doesn't like to do what I say. This story doesn't sound all purdy like I had planned T.T. Well, cut me some slack :P... I hardly got any sleep last night. We stayed in a hotel room and our neighbours... ahem... made a bit of noise. I almost peed myself laughing when my five-year-old sister said "Will someone _please _stop that banging?" xP. If you don't get what I'm talking about, wait 'til your eighteen :P.

Hahh I keep piggybacking wireless for like five minutes at a time at these random farms in the prairies :P. Unfortunately, by the time anything loads up, we lose it again :P. Speaking of the prairies... oohhh my god... Iowa or Idaho or wherever I am... the USA prairies... has the most boring landscape in the world T.T. It's like... oh look, grass! More grass! Some wind turbines! More grass! Gaspos, A COW (pff... Cowton... Sorry Hannah xD) ! More grass! Soo boring x.x.

Anyways, thanks for reading C:... and please drop me a review... That would make these oh-so monotonous days more delightful.

--LA


	3. La Nuit et le Jour

**A/N: **Ahh the mountains are finally showing up :). We had a nice, four hour drive today 8D. I spent ten minutes of that trying to figure out that farmer-has-to-bring-a-chicken-a-fox-and-some-grain-across-the-river riddle. I was pretty proud of myself when I got it XD.

Gahh I'm so hungry right now! I've only eaten a banana and a bottle of raspberry ice tea that I downed in two minutes :P. Ice tea and Dr Pepper are my favourite things in the world :D.

--LA

* * *

Oh... my... god... these friggin' cows smell so bad T.T. Anyways, I don't own anyone at all :).

* * *

The first few days were quiet. Sonic hadn't even caught a glance of anyone since that first surprising view of the changed Tails. He tapped his foot in boredom, idly gazing through the huge window.

_Tap...Tap... Tap..._

Sonic jumped, his ears perking up. He stared into the forest room intently, swivelling his head around, curious to see what the others would look like in their new skins.

_Tap... Tap... Tap..._

He blinked in surprise. The tapping was coming from a minuscule black spot, throwing itself again and again into the glass right in front of his face. Sonic grabbed a plush chair and dragged it to the wall, hopping onto it to get a better look.

He peered closer, squinting. When the black and yellow striped, fuzzy, round body gave away the tiny creatures identity, the hedgehog couldn't help but laugh.

"Charmy?" He said in amusement "What are you doing, kid?"

The bee, Sonic assumed, finally realized that the glass was, in fact, a solid object. He buzzed off into the trees and out of sight. Sonic frowned. Hadn't the doctor said that the glass was one-way?

"Hey, doc?" Sonic called mildly, turning his head to face the pink light. "Why didn't Charmy see the window?"

The hedgehog was surprised to actually hear the speaker buzz on. Eggman had only ever ignored his questions.

"Simple!" He replied brightly. "The one-way glass was tinted slightly, so I replaced it. I just want you to have the best view possible. And I took the liberty of adding a one-way speaker. You can hear them, but they can't hear you."

"How considerate of you."

"And," The doctor continued, now sounding childishly delighted, "I have another surprise for you!"

There was a great, mechanical groan, and a huge black screen slid in front of the window, blocking it.

"A TV?" Sonic said pleasantly. "Awesome. I could use some entertainment."

"Yes." Eggman replied distastefully. "But wait until you see who's the star."

The television turned on to show the doctor's beaming face, grinning obnoxiously into the camera.

"Welcome, slaves-"

"Oh boy." Sonic grumbled.

"to EggTV! Now broadcast worldwide, on every channel everywhere! You're watching SonicCam. Twenty-four-seven, live coverage of Sonic the Hedgehog, in the magnificent Dr. Eggman's captivity. "

The image of the doctor's face panned out to reveal Sonic sitting on the bed, staring at the television. It shut off and slid back into the wall, revealing the window once again.

"With you and your little hero friends locked away," Eggman continued, sounding like a child showing off a piece of macaroni art, "No one will dare to rebel."

"You have fun with that." Sonic said dismissively. He turned to the camera. "Hey, mom."

The speaker's humming silenced and Sonic returned his gaze to the other room, hoping to see another animal.

After about an hour of watching in vain, he finally noticed some movement.

He leaned closer with intent curiosity.

"Knuckles!" He laughed, ginning, "I think you've seen better days."

A beet red, fist sized ball of spikes was grovelling around in the dirt at the base of one of the taller pine trees. Sonic managed to get a glance at his face. Knuckles now sported a pair of beady, black eyes, a pointed snout, and four shovel-like paws. He was digging around, loosening the dark soil.

Suddenly, a twig snapped and the echidna scurried down into the dirt without hesitation, into a hole that Sonic hadn't previously noticed. Tails the little fox leapt from out of the shadows of the trees. He circled the hole where Knuckles had disappeared, then dropped onto his forepaws and stuck his rump in the air, scratching at the opening and looking rather desperate.

"Whatcha doing, Tails?" Sonic asked in amused confusion, furrowing his brow.

The fox scratched at the entrance of the burrow for a few more moments before woofing impatiently and hopping over to the clearing in the center of the room. He sniffed at Vector's old headphones, then grabbed them in his jaws and padded off into the forest, looking extremely proud of himself.

Nothing moved for a few hours after that unusual display, but Sonic remained at his post, simply because he had nothing better to do.

After a while, after night would have fallen, the lights in the forest dimmed. Something caught his eye. Airborne, a tiny black silhouette shot out of the trees.

It was Rouge.

The bat's tiny wing's, which actually resembled those of a real bat, beat as she zoomed around the room with no destination apparent. She flew with amazing grace and speed, despite a pair of oversized ears, and a not-so-gorgeous face. After a while, she returned to the canopy and hid in the darkness.

Sonic chuckled. He wished that the sly, sexy, regular Rouge could see herself now.

Things were uneventful for the rest of that day, so Sonic retired to his bed. He was beginning to realize exactly how hungry he was. His insides growled and churned in protest, begging him to eat the food piled in the far corner.

He sighed, turning over to face the wall. He decided to relax for the rest of night, thinking.

So far, he had seen Tails, Charmy, Knuckles, and Rouge. That meant that Amy, Cream, Shadow, Espio, and Vector were still hidden somewhere out of sight. Sonic chuckled, imagining what huge Vector would look like. If echidnas were ugly, little creatures living in holes, would the mighty crocodile have become a foot-long toy?

Sonic just wished he had a camera so that he could show everyone what they looked like after they had been changed back. He yawned and scratched his head, rolling onto his back and gazing into the camera. He wondered who was watching, and how they would react.

His stomach rumbled angrily. He wondered if the imprisoned animals would be as hungry as he was, and felt sorry for them. If he really became desperate for food, he could always go for the suspicious chilli dogs. But they had no food available, except for a less than appetising vegetarian diet of leaves and moss. At least they had water... though, admittedly, murky, the pond in the far corner of the room was full of reedy water. Sonic was curious why no one had attempted to take a drink; surely they would be getting thirsty. He certainly was.

Sonic grumbled and rolled onto his side again, staring wistfully at the food.

"It's not poisoned, you know." Eggman said suddenly. "What would I gain from poisoning you? You're my biggest tool for keeping the public subdued. I want to keep you alive as long as I can."

Sonic smirked. "How nice of you."

"That's why I'm making such a fabulous ruler."

"Mmhmm." The hedgehog said dismissively. "You keep telling yourself that. Anyways, I'm getting pretty tired. I'm gonna hit the sack."

"Sweet dreams." The doctor mocked. "And keep your eye on your friends... I'm sure they've still got quite a show to put on for you."

The microphone buzzed off, leaving Sonic alone with the quiet yet again, his ears ringing. He cracked his knuckles in hesitation, his stomach prompting him to eat. He didn't trust the doctor, of course, but

Eggman's reasoning made sense; if Sonic really was his biggest utility, then there was no reason for the doctor to not keep him healthy

His hunger overweighing his suspicion, the hedgehog hopped off the bed and tiptoed over to the mountain of food, hoping to avoid attracting the doctor's attention. He had to admit that it was unnerving to be watched constantly. Setting his discomfort aside, he licked his lips and set to a surprisingly delicious meal.

He was actually surprised, being the chilli dog connoisseur that he was, how perfect they were.

When the entire pile had been devoured, Sonic picked his teeth contently, his insides churning in approval.

He took a final glance at the forest, simply out of habit, and then plopped into bed pleasantly. If he was going to be a circus freak, under a magnifying glass all day, he was going to go with the flow, and enjoy it.

* * *

**A/N: **Oh, McBlech. Why do I bother :P?! This story is being a massive silly goose. Personally, I think we should burn it :). But anyways, I'm having such a good time C! I started writing this on... Saturday? So that first AN looks bizarre to me :P.

My face is sun and wind burnt, my lips are butchered, and those moguls are complete bitches on the knees, but I'm having an amazing time :)! It's Wednesday right now... so I've got two more days of skiing, then it's back to the road. Thank you for humouring me by reading, and puhhlease review :D!

Ohh, and it's kind of funny... I was on a chairlift with my daddy and these two other guys, and they could tell that I'm Canadian because I said 'eh':P. I didn't even notice that I said it! Do I say eh?! And it happened like five times, too.

Ohh, and yeah, I named my chapters in pretty French, too XD! I'll translate them for you when I can remember them :P. I don't have internet right now, so when I have a chance I'll type 'em out...

Merci, Je t'aime!

--LA


	4. Amis Pour le Dîner

**A/N:**Okayy… I'm writing this on Thursday, while watching Sweeny Todd 8D… We all deserve to dieeee! Anyways, I had the most bizarre dream last night! Okay, first I was playing soccer, and I was the goalie… but my class was playing too. And then my friend Sasha came over in this obnoxious, yellow jersey, and he kept pushing me around so I let in all the goals and we lost like… 20-1 or something :P. So then, we went to Dairy Queen and bought a huge mint ice cream castle thing… but they gave me a fork so I couldn't eat. So then, I left, and sat on a random, orange computer and checked out my buddies on Deviantart. Then, I went onto hotmail to see my emails, and I had this one review. It was really weird, because it seemed super realistic, and it was giving me all this advice that was actually pretty sensible :P. So, I'm going to follow my dream's advice on this one :D. Thank you, subconscious!

**Anonymous Reviews: **

Sara: Hehe thank you. He's got a sort of lab rat-ish reason :)… but you'll have to stay tuned for that :3.

--LA

* * *

Same old, same old… I think, if I owned these hawties, I'd… make this whole, epic game starring myself B-)! I'd be… a goldfish or something :D!

* * *

As often was the case, filling the stomach with salty food lead to thirst. Sonic had retired the previous night with a content full belly, and a pasty, sticky mouth.

He couldn't help but grin when he awoke to find a fully stocked pop dispenser mounted on the wall beside the heavy-duty door.

"You know me too well." The hedgehog said to the camera in amusement. He leapt off of the bed and shot over to the frosty cooler, full to bursting with every kind of soft drink imaginable. Sonic cheerfully selected one of his favourites and opened it with a pleasing, fizzy crack.

Humming the soda's jingle under his breath, he swaggered over to the comfy sear by the window and slouched into the usual spot, returning to his watch post.

A tiny figure caught his eye first. He smiled.

"Oh, I'd know those ears anywhere."

Cream had been converted into a fluffy, big-eyed, ball of fur with a powdery nub for a tail and large, snowshoe-like feet. Sonic noticed with surprised distaste that she was actually eating the grass which coated the ground, looking perfectly content (though it was difficult to read emotions on their changed faces).

The hedgehog frowned in disgust.

"Man, you must be desperate." He said, feeling suddenly grateful for the food which was delivered to him twice daily.

Cream continued to graze happily for ten minutes, before a sudden sound from the bushes caused her to freeze still as a statue, large eyes fixed on the source of the snap. Tails leapt out of the brush and pounced, but Cream was too quick for him. The moment he exited the shelter of the trees, she darted out of his reach and disappeared into a hole a few feet away from the winder, at the base of a crumbly mound of earth and grass.

"You guys have got some really nice Real-Estate opportunities in there." Sonic said sarcastically, raising an eye ridge. He didn't understand why everyone seemed to like living in holes so much… He had seen both Cream and Knuckles descend into underground homes. Tails' living quarters were yet to be discovered, and Rouge seemed to inhabit the canopy, though Sonic had only seen her once.

Also, he thought it unlikely that he would see Charmy often. The bee was simply too tiny to keep track of. 

And he still hadn't figured out why Tails was constantly chasing other, smaller animals, or why they always ran away. The fox seemed completely desperate. He was scratching and whimpering at the rabbit's burrow, cautiously poking his snout into its interior. After a moment, he withdrew with a disappointed whimper, then scampered back into the woods, his fluffy tails dragging behind him. Was it just Sonic… or did the little fox's frame seem frailer and thinner somehow…

* * *

"Prime Minister… Emperor… Prime Emperor…" The doctor muttered to himself pensively, his hands folded under his chin, "No… no."

He banged his hands on the desk before him decisively. 

"Yes, it will have to be Uber Grand Sovereign Ruler."

"Excellent choice, doctor." bleeped a short robot, typing something into a towering computer.

"Of course it was." replied the self-declared Uber Grand Sovereign Ruler with a smirk. "You know, I must say this was one of my most ingenious plots to date!" 

"Brilliant." The robot agreed automatically, fearing disassembly. 

"Once Sonic is forced to watch his friends obey their animal instincts…"

He snatched a pencil off of the desk and held it between his fingers. He snapped it in half.

"He'll bend like a twig in my hands."

* * *

No one showed their fuzzy faces for three more days. Thoughts of escape attempts had nagged Sonic's mind, but he was genuinely interested in the event taking place on the other side of the window.

On the fourth morning, Sonic noticed Tails digging, his round behind in the air and his little paws shoveling. 

"Not you too." The hedgehog muttered in amused disbelief. Another one of his friends living in a hole underground?

But when he finished, Tails did not crawl into the burrow, but cantered off into the forest, only to return a moment later with Vector's old headphones, now completely mauled, clutched in his little jaws. Sonic thought it was a wonder that the bulky headset didn't knock the fox off balance; he looked comically top-heavy. But he padded over to the hole superiorly, and dropped his treasure inside before resealing it again with soil.

He gave it a final proud pat before hopping back into the trees. He froze mid-step. Something, unseen by Sonic, had caught the fox's attention. Tails backed up slowly, his face set determinedly on what looked like a pair of tiny stones…

One pink, and one black… Amy and Shadow?

Sonic was speechless. Seeing the hedgehogs affected him much more than any of the others did. Those puny, round, critters were the same species as him. 

Tails padded over quietly, his body looking tense and without any of its usual loping playfulness.

He crouched down until he was crawling over to the couple with his belly pressed to the earth. 

But they didn't run like the others did… they seemed distracted with each other. Sonic leaned closer in curiosity to try and figure out what they were doing, climbing over one another like that., 

"Oh…" Sonic said weakly. "_Oh."_

His jaw dropped as he realized what the two little creatures were up to. His lower lip twitched in shock. After a moment, he blinked away his disbelief, and a grin split across his face.

"Shadz!" He said, sounding impressed. "Way to go, man!"

But his amusement turned back into curiosity when Tails, again, caught his attention. The fox was creeping ever closer, eyes fixed on the pair. Sonic scratched his head, embarrassed for Shadow.

"You guys shouldn't do that in front of the kid, you know." He said with playful scolding in his voice, though he couldn't wipe the smirk from his face. "Tails, give them some priva-"

He gasped.

"Whaddaya doing?" Sonic yelped, instinctively jumping to his feet. The fox had gripped Shadow between his teeth, and attempted to pull him off of his partner. But the hedgehog was stubborn, apparently determined to finish his deed, and did not come easily. Although Tails tugged and shook him, he put up quite a fight considering the size difference of him and his attacker. 

"Tails!" Sonic cried. "He's a hedgehog, not a pair of headphones!"

But the fox, of course, could neither hear nor understand. At last, Shadow lost his vice-like grip on Amy, who scurried off into another burrow when she landed, her fall softened by rotting leaves. Shadow was less fortunate. 

Tails, looking delighted, hopped off to the pile of dirt where he had buried the headset, and dropped a dead hedgehog at his paws.

Sonic was in shock.

"Tails…" He murmured in disbelief, "How could you?"

Of course, Sonic had never been particularly fond of Shadow, but he couldn't believe that Tails was capable of such a thing.

And Sonic was only more disgusted and horrified when Tails didn't bury the corpse, but began to devour it with the vigor of a bloodthirsty monster. He dismembered his prey with hungry, needle-sharp teeth. 

By the time his meal was completely consumed, he licked his bloodstained chops proudly and padded off into the forest, looking as pleased as if he had just built some record-setting aircraft. 

Sonic recoiled, feeling sick to his stomach. 

"Tails…"

All that remained of the former second-fastest thing alive was a pile of splinter-like quills, sprawled about and ruby with blood. Sonic recoiled in revulsion and turned to face the camera, a look of utter disgust on his face as he remembered the doctor's words, his wicked, twisted grin…

"There's the beauty of it, Sonic... I'm not doing anything. I don't need to do anything... they can take care of themselves."

* * *

**A/N: **Oh noes! We lost Shadz! Soo… This one's short, sorry. I have troubles making these chapter long. I also don't like the whole Eggy scene. Hmm… I had a whole bunch of things I was going to say D:. I have the worst memory ever! Thhiiinnnkkiingggg…

Ahh there's one C:. It took me a bit of thinking to decide how to make Sonic react to Shadow and Amy's… bow chicka wow wow. I was tired of writing the "Sawnik's always secretly lurveed Ames gooey gooey smooch smooch" Sonic :P. Now, he's the "Amy's a stalker creeper" Sonic :). Maybe that's a bit of an overstatement… but you know what I mean. He wasn't particularly upset by it ;). What do you guys think of that personality choice -.o?

And I actually had to do a bit of research on this one. God bless Wiki. Did you know that "The female hedgehog has the ability to curl her tail upward to the point that her vulva protrudes behind the rest of her body. As such, the male doesn't have to get completely on top of the female when mating." Pretty interesting, ehh :D?... :\. 

Uhh thanks, and please review :).

--LA

P.S: On second thought, I wouldn't be a goldfish. Honestly, I'm terrified of fish. Fish, houseflies and hospitals are my biggest fears. Shudderrr… So I'd be a stingray C (ehh, Hannah XD?)!

P.P.S: Umm here are the chapter titles so far translated:

1. The Five-Star Prison

2. Miserably Comfortable

3. The Night and the Day

4. Friends for Dinner


	5. Temps Passager

A/N: Hoorah for chapter five C:. So… now that I'm finally at home, and back onto my regular computer, updates should come much more often :). And I'm really going to try and make my chapters longer. This whole plot just doesn't cooperate :\. But I like writing with realistic animals :). See, I was one of those hopeless, ten-year-old RPGers who wrote wolf RPG's every moment of my life. Hahh I remember those days XD!

--LA

* * *

Everyone who you're gonna see here belongs to the gorgeous people at SEGA!! Thanks for not suing me -driippiing with innocence- C:!

* * *

Now that Sonic had realized the danger his friends were in, he began to seriously think about escape.

The last of Shadow's decimating remains still lay scattered about the moss, posing as an extremely disturbing omen, seemingly determined to remind Sonic of what his previously adorable, innocent best friend was capable of. Tails really was quite the efficient killer. He and those razor-sharp chompers were dismembering machines. And Sonic was anxious to see who would be next…

No. He told himself firmly. No one would be next, because he, and they, would be out of there before Tails… "struck again".

And, he wondered, was Tails the only one he needed to be wary of? Did echidnas eat bats, or bees senselessly devour rabbits? At least he felt confident that Cream wasn't a carnivore; he had seen her munching contently on grass.

It certainly ticked him off to be trapped, and, after what he had calculated to be about a week (three days since Shadow's attack), he was beginning to get extremely stir crazy. Also, he wondered if, without his shoes, he could manage to hit top-speed, incase his breakout required it.

The days were excruciatingly monotonous. Even with a close to endless supply of his favourite foods, he still couldn't bring himself to maintain the cheerful outlook he had retained throughout the first several days. His original optimistic, lighthearted attitude was very quickly morphing into a much more serious stance. Remaining in captivity was simply not an option, and he would not let a second tragedy occur while his friends were so vulnerable.

He did a few laps around the spacious room to test his abilities, but found that his naked feet only posed a slight disadvantage, and his speed was just barely handicapped. Unfortunately, he noticed that running with unprotected feet sent pains up the back of his legs, and his lower back was soon aching. He had never appreciated how essential footwear was for absorbing the shock that every step delivered.

But those things could be ignored if need be, and he was grateful that he could run at all.

And then, all of a sudden, he heard a series of sharp yips, and shot over to the window, though he was now more nervous than curious.

Tails' namesakes were just disappearing into the bushes when Sonic reached a fair viewpoint. He furrowed his brow, peering around to see what had caused the predator's flight. But the room appeared empty, and he couldn't see anything in motion…

A tiny speck, barely visible, caught his eye. Unless Vector or Espio had also been turned into minuscule, flying critters, it was Charmy. He was hovering around a patch of wild daisies, looking innocent enough. But then again, who'd have thought the adorable Tails would resort to such aggressive behavior.

Taking a confused sip of the can of soda clutched in one hand, Sonic felt curiosity get the better of him. Setting aside all plans for escape in his head, he glued his eyes to the glass and set his mind to figuring what the tiny bee could have done to scare the comparably might Tails so. Sonic reasoned that the only bodily weapon that Charmy had was the sharp, silver stinger protruding from his rear.

Perhaps the new Charmy had kept that, and prodded it into Tails in a move of self-defence.

But the bee's movements were unusually slow and clumsy and laborious, as if he were fighting to just keep aloft.

Then he landed. There he stood, perched on an ivory daisy. There he stayed. For over fifteen minutes Sonic watched the bee's pea-sized body, completely immobile. The hedgehog, whose attention span was beginning to grow short, yawned and turned to leave.

As he got to his feet, a sudden movement from the forest room re-caught his attention. But even with his lightning-quick reflexes, by the time he turned his head, the motion, whatever it had been, was gone.

It had appeared to be a long, narrow flash of pink… coming from an insignificant, gray rock lying unimportantly atop a second, larger stone. Sonic peered closer, cocking his head to manoeuvre his view around the flowers.

Where had Charmy gone?

And then, he noticed another movement from the smaller pebble… with such an unusual texture…

And a body? It lifted what appeared to be a spindly leg, and slowly stepped over to the base of the tree.

Well, Sonic figured, it was either Vector or Espio. Its gray colouring matched neither of their scaly skins, but the latter did have the powers to turn his scales transparent… Perhaps now Espio the chameleon could also alter his skin colour.

But where had Charmy disappeared to? No longer was he planted to the flimsy flower. Sonic scanned the area around the blossoms, but no fuzzy, spherical insect appeared.

The hedgehog returned his attention to the moving rock. It was ascending the pine tree, taking slow, deliberate steps. Suddenly, his scaly casing transformed from the slate into a coffee brown to match his new platform; the brown of the knobbly bark below his twig-like feet.

That would be Espio. Those colour changes seemed like traits appropriate for a ninja…

But as soon as Sonic turned away for a moment, he lost sight of the camouflaged lizard, and though he craned his neck to search, couldn't relocate it.

With a dismissive yawn, he turned around and hopped back onto the bed, doing a few leg raises. Since he was now spending all day sitting around, it seemed important to not turn into a total lump. Although mediocre, exercises gave him something more to do than sit stewing and watching days creep by, taking their sweet time.

That night, Sonic saw Rouge descend from her hideaway in the trees, and do a few swooping dives before returning to the safe cover of the canopy. Honestly, now that Sonic had seen all that the animals were capable of, he no longer blamed them for escaping to the underground for shelter. He certainly wouldn't want to be cornered on the business end of the fox.

After that small encounter with the bat, nothing happened for a few more days. Sonic kept track of the passing time with a tally on the wall using a pen inscribed with "Eggman Empire", which he had found on the bedside table. There had also been a pad of paper, as in most hotels, but he thought that writing on the wall sent a much more appropriate message. The count was at ten days, two full sets of five.

But the thing was, time moved along so slowly that Sonic feared more for his sanity than for his physical safety. And he was honestly beginning to question his certainty of the others being returned to their usual states. When he thought it through realistically, it occurred to him that he, and no one he knew except for Tails (who wasn't exactly open for commissions), had no idea how to build anything capable of such drastic results. The only person he could think of was Eggman, and somehow the hedgehog didn't think that the doctor would find it in his caring heart to spare Sonic the blueprints for a de-... whatever he had done to them-machine.

But he was persistently optimistic, and checked the window in vain every day for cracks, or some sort of weakness. But never had there been a fault, a flaw, even the tiniest imperfection, despite days of persistently abusing it.

He took to jogging around the room for hours at a time, practically wearing a circular dark stain into the carpet. This worn-out doughnut gave his a shred of hope… but upon closer, rather disappointing, inspection, he realized that below the rug had been nothing but more heavily reinforced material. He felt that second which ticked by was like a grain of sand descending into the mysterious bottom half of the hourglass. The problem was, he had an entire beach worth of seconds at his disposal.

* * *

A/N: … I really do try 0.o'. And guess what :D? I actually remember most of the things I wanted to say C:!

First, I've got two movies I'd like to talk about :). First, I went to see Horton Hears a Who on Friday night XD. Ahh my god, guys :P… go see it. I was going to see 10000 BC, but then I was like… naww. Dr Seuss fo eva. Seriously, I thought it was adorable 8D. Go see it. Screw the big, scary sabre-tooth tigers 'n shit XD. So anyways, tonight… actually right before writing this… I watched Pan's Labyrinth :P. Learned me some Spanish… and found a character to replace the I Am Legend zombies as my nightmare buddies; the eyeball-hand-dude :\. I am insanely bad with scary movies, so I was like… squishing my friend's arm the entire time. Sorry, Layla C:. Another good one, though :).

Aand… yes. As some of you might know, my ankle doesn't enjoy being an ankle. See, it likes being a golf ball, so it jumps on any opportunity that it can to swell into its idol. My daddy says that I'm "susceptible to sprains". So go figure. It went over AGAIN Thursday night during soccer. Buhlegh! So I've been hobbling around for the past little bit XD… it's mostly better though :).

And hahh XP. It was sort of depressing… I had this lovely piranha analogy in the first few paragraphs while describing Tails' chompers. But then I was like… wait! Sonic doesn't know what a piranha is! So I had to erase it T.T. It was sad.

Soo erm… Thank you for reading… please review, and happy Easter C:!

--LA

P.S: The eyeball guy's going to eat me. I need a hug T.T OmO.

P.P.S: It won't let me put my "A/N" in bold D:! I'm going to cry. Then they eyeball guy will eat me.


	6. Repentir et Pierres Tombales

**A****/N: **My reviewers are dropping like flies! What happened to you guys :P? Probably couldn't stand the smell of this story any longer. I don't blame you, but it breaks my heart TT. I'm not too sure how long this story's going to end up being… but I'm running out of ways for them to kill each other. Please read and review :)!

--LA

* * *

I wonder what would happen if I claimed to own the… "new" versions of the characters XD. I could rename them, and like… steal SEGA's rights B-). Tails could be… Wails :D! Yes, Wails B-). Oh, and I should probably say… the song you're about to read doesn't belong to me :P. I didn't write it… My mommy sings it to us when we won't wake up in the mornings :3! I guess it belongs to some dead guy.

* * *

"Rise, and shine…" crooned a way too familiar voice, "And, give me the glory, glory…"

The doctor's singing voice could be rated between mediocre, and insanity-inducing. Therefore, Sonic was none too pleased to awake with it harassing his ears.

"Children," he continued, failing to reach a low note, "of this, land."

Sonic groaned, groping for a pillow to muffle the awful song.

"Oh, it was sad," Eggman persisted, now putting on a more saddened tone, "Oh, it was sad; oh, it was sad when the grea-eat ship went down, to the bottom of the…"

"Why me?" Sonic breathed

"Husbands and wives," The Doctor ploughed on, delighted by Sonic's agony, "and children lost their lives, oh it was sad, when the great ship went down."

"What a wake-up song." Sonic grumbled, tearing himself out of bed and glancing up at the light.

"Why thank you." Eggman said cheerfully, apparently not picking up on the strong sarcasm lacing Sonic's comment. "I've been practicing. After all, I'm going to be the only competitor on the Eggman Idol show. The six-hour special premier will be broadcast tomorrow!"

"Oh, boy." Sonic said flatly. "I can't wait."

This time, the doctor noticed the mockery, but chose to ignore it.

"Anyways," He continued, clearly childishly offended at having his vocal talents insulted, addressing the hedgehog as if he was some sort of inanimate smear on the floor. "I have yet another wonderful surprise for you."

"If it involves a musical performance," Sonic said with a frown, "then I'll have to pass."

"Unfortunately, it doesn't." Eggman said disapprovingly. "But just take a peek out your window, and you can see for yourself."

Sonic, having no reason to argue, slid off the bed, and crouched onto his seat by the glass.

Nothing was moving. The room might have looked pristine and inviting, were it not for Sonic's nervous, and understandable, bias towards it. To him, the patch of flowers was a landmine waiting to go off. And the seemingly innocent Amy? Who knew… she could be a ticking time bomb.

"What am I supposed to be seeing?" Sonic asked, raising an eyebrow.

But the doctor's gruff voice wasn't what answered. The walls buzzed away, their intricate circuitry put to work, and a large hole opened in the ceiling of the forest room. Sonic recognized it as the same opening through which his friends had arrived in the first place.

At first, he braced himself to see a couple more friends drop down, changed into those unusual forms, but all that fell through were a pair of red sneakers.

_His _red sneakers. Sonic's jaw dropped, and he leapt to his feet.

"Oh, no!" He exclaimed, "No, no, no!"

He turned pleadingly to the camera. "C'mon, doc! That's a hit below the belt!"

Though several hundred meters, and much steal and mechanical wiring separated Eggman from the hedgehog, Sonic could just see the doctor's smug face, grinning childishly, and delighted at coming up with such a devious idea. However, he didn't respond, though it could be safely assumed that he was watching in gleeful silence.

Sonic pursed his lip, scooting closer to the window. He felt fairly sure that he knew what was coming…

Sure enough, after several minutes, the fox killing-machine poked his little face out of the trees, looking innocently curious. But Sonic could see right through that charade… He had seen what the fox had done to Vector's headphones, using them as a chew toy, probably sharpening his teeth for his attack on Shadow.

But he now had two new playthings sitting immobile before him.

At first, he edged closer cautiously, his body pressed low to the ground. He tested the shoes with a tiny nip, then leapt back into the woods. He repeated this action a few times, bouncing back and forth between the shoes and the bushes as if they were sneaky predators he needed to be wary of.

It would have been comical, watching the fox acting like a ping pong ball, if Sonic didn't fear for his faithful footwear so.

After a couple more laps, Tails, now apparently fairly confident that the runners were not, in fact, something to fear, hopped out of the brush and cantered over.

He sunk his teeth into the tongue of the left shoe, pulling at it. Sonic cringed visibly. He bit his fingers, then grabbed his ears and began hopping from foot to foot in agony.

"No, Tails, no!" He groaned, gasping loudly when the fox turned his attention to the sole. "Uungh! No! Those are reinforced, friction proof rubber!"

But the fox, of course, continued to gnaw away happily at the inanimate objects which Sonic held so dearly.

The hedgehog had a secret which he had never revealed to anyone. Though it was common knowledge among their group of friends that Sonic was extremely attached to his favourite runners, but none of them knew the magnitude.

"Hugo!" He exclaimed in anguish, watching as his left shoe was torn to pieces. 'Hugo' was the name which he had given to his left sneaker. "No! Hugo!"

Tails jerked his neck, and threw the shoe aside happily, pouncing after it. He was playing a half-formed game of catch with himself.

'_I bet you could get Shadow to play with you.' _Sonic thought venomously. _'Oh, wait! You ate him too!'_

The fox tossed the shoe a bit further than he could bother himself to retrieve, then turned his attention to his second new toy; the right sneaker.

"No, Tails!" Sonic cried "Not Rodney! Anything but Rodney!"

Though he knew that Tails wasn't properly conscious of what he was doing, Sonic couldn't help but feel furious and betrayed. It was a horrible thing to admit, but he realized that being forced to watch the brutal homicide of his shoes in docility affected him more than watching Shadow getting devoured had. But the guilt he felt for admitting that was quickly overpowered by more horrified distress.

Rodney and Hugo… they had been with him as long as he could remember. Over the years, they'd received several updates and add-ons, but they were always Rodney and Hugo.

Now, however, Hugo's polished gold buckle was dented, and had been thrown aside without a second thought, too hard for the fox's teeth, so that he could pull at the gorgeous white strip…

Sonic revved up in desperation, throwing himself into the glass. But, of course, it was all futile. No matter what sort of abuse he shot at the window, it remained sturdy and flawless.

Several moments later, he dropped to his feet, recognizing defeat.

Tails had plopped onto his belly, and was now chewing contently on the rubber sole of Rodney.

Sonic, knowing there was no way for him to save his footwear, couldn't bear to watch the onslaught any longer. He turned around, and hopped into bed, trying to block out the odd ripping sound that harassed him through the speakers. He snatched his pen off of the bedside table, and lifted himself onto his knees.

On the piece of wall above his bed, he drew the most professional-looking cross that he could, then scribed a message below it:

"R.I.P Hugo and Rodney; I would trust my feet with no others."

He frowned, disappointed with how childish his makeshift gravestone seemed. Unfortunately, it was scratched into the wall in black pen, so it would have to do. He considered drawing some flowers below it, but didn't think that they would like that. Instead, he carefully sketched dozens of charily planned lines, taking extreme care to make it look exactly as he had envisioned in his mind.

When he finished at last and backed away slightly to get a better look of his work, he noticed in disappointment that the speed lines he had planned didn't end up looking half as cool as he had pictured. The hopeless artist sighed and scratched his head, plopping back down onto the bed.

There he stayed, reminiscing in lonesomeness and gloom, all optimism stripped from him. After a few minutes, he realized that Shadow's death hadn't had a ceremony, however dismal. Sonic felt slightly guilty, and drew a second, smaller and noticeably shabbier cross above the bedside table.

"Shadow." was all that he wrote.

Despite Sonic's many talents, compassion was not his strong suit. Except, of course, when it came to his shoes.

* * *

**A/N: **Oh, doy. What an ending xP:P! Hugo is the name of my late mp3 player (I broke 'im on a door knob… long story XP), and Rodney's the name of my present one. I love him :D! But I think I've dropped him one too many times… so he's seen better days :P.

What, don't you guys name those kinds of things -.-'? Well, I do :P. I name everything that I love, inanimate or not XD. My purdy tablet is named Delilah, the pen's called Samson :P. My gamecube (man, he's ancient), is called Tyrone :P.

I LOVE THEM ALL!!

You guys, too. Especially if you review :3… "puppydawgeyess!!"

--LA


	7. L'eau

**A/N: **Good god, did I neglect this one XD. But then again, in my defense, it's not healthy to have so much homework, then get so many sudden PM's :P! I don't know what's up, but I'm suddenly very popular :D. … sniff. And I've got a nasty head/chest cold, too :P. My throat's all swollen up. It feels like a fat guy's neck XD! OKAY… I seriously have to start writing this 0.o.

… now.

Now.

NOW, GAWSH DARN IT, NOW D:!

--LA

* * *

Seriously, my writer's block-edness is reaching a critical point D:. I NEED MEDICAL HELP, PEOPLE TT. … but yeah, none of these purdy fellas 'n gals belong to me.

* * *

Day fifteen came and went. Fifteen days; three hundred and sixty hours. And every stretched second that he sat there in captivity only increased the magnitude of his agony. It felt like he was inside some sort of horrible test tube, regarded and studied in a psychology class. Seconds cascaded onto him, the pressure to escape growing stronger and stronger while his willpower grew weaker and weaker...

Sonic didn't like to admit it, but much of his misery was the product of pure boredom. He would have given anything for a television, a treadmill, a paddle ball... anything that could help him pass the time. Being left alone with nothing but bitter thoughts lead to nothing but more bitter thoughts.

After a while, his mind came to an unnerving conclusion that he had been dreadfully aware of all along, very much on its own accord. Even if he did somehow manage to make some miraculous escape, and rescue his friends from their prison, he would still be stuck with arms full of brainless, thrashing creatures.

He was awaiting an answer, hoping that something would come to him, since he had no way of getting to it. Perhaps he would awake one monotonous morning to find a door left ajar, or a hairline crack in the window. But so far, nothing of the sort had occurred, and he was very quickly losing hope.

Simply out of habit, the hedgehog spared a glance out the window, then blinked in surprise.

For the first time in days, he caught sight of a living creature.

The fox was behaving strangely, even more so than usual. He was hovering around the glassy pool, taking anxious trips back and forth across its shore.

"Thirsty?" Sonic muttered. He restrained himself from adding, "eating running shoes'll do that to you." Though he knew that Tails couldn't be held responsible for his actions, he really couldn't help feeling some resent towards his friend.

The soft padding of the fox's footfalls snapped him back into alertness. He was crouching on his tummy, edging towards the water's edge poised in a stance that was not unlike his hunting posture. But something was different. His puffy tails, whose coats, most likely due to extreme lack on nutrients had lost much of their lustrous volume, were tucked between his hind legs. Sonic was unsure how he made the assumption, but somehow, the fox's body language seemed to read fear rather than hostility. He crawled closer to the water, clearly driven by the immense thirst which had developed over his stay.

He drew closer, all the while tense-bodied and fearful.

What did he have to fear? From what Sonic had seen, he was on the top of the food chain.

The water itself was murky and full of reeds… perhaps some threatening beast unseen by Sonic, but sensed by Tails, lurked in its depths.

Tails dipped the tip of his muzzle in the water, hurriedly lapping up as much water as he could, all the while keeping his anxious eyes alert.

Before he could possibly have drank his full, the little fox withdrew his mouth and sprinted off into the brush, tails still between his legs.

Was he hurt? Anxious? Or was this just some strange, inexplicable behavior the animals did for amusement?

Sonic was unsure, but he couldn't shake the feeling that Tails was afraid, or in pain. With the fox out of sight, Sonic turned his attention to the mirror flat surface of the pool. As far as he could tell, it was empty but for aquatic plants. He wished that he could enter the room to explore for himself, but the reinforced glass, and steel walls weren't about to allow that.

Oddly enough, Tails soon crept back out of the forest cover, and repeated the entire situation; circling the pool, then taking a quick, daring drink, before darting back to safety. Then a third time around the circuit.

But this time, Sonic noticed something different. The pool no longer looked mirror flat… although it was near undetectable, Sonic just noticed the tiniest ripples, waving out from two woody knobs sticking out of the water. Had some marine monster disturbed a branch? The hedgehog took a moment to think. He had already seen everyone but Vector…

Sonic blinked. The bumps descended back into the murk…

Could it be the crocodile? The real Vector certainly had formidable size, and daunting jaws. Perhaps, to the contrary of most of the other animals, things had only gotten more redoubtable.

As Tails crept closer, Sonic felt a nervous tingle run down his spine. Something was wrong. He didn't know what, but his instincts told him so.

Hardly aware of what he was doing, he shook his head, and began to speak in a whisper.

"Don't, Tails…"

Some unseen horror was lurking down there. Tails was in danger. And the fox knew it. But thirst was behind the wheel of his judgment. He moved towards the shore, looking more confident than before. This time, he dipped his front paws into the water, and began drinking more slowly and contently. As far as he was concerned, taking two safe trips meant that the water was harmless. Those well-camouflaged knobby lumps appeared again, a few feet away from Tails, just breaking the surface of the water.

Sonic glanced over to his personal drink dispenser. Row upon row of pristine bottled water, crisp and cool, mocked him. He felt guilty, having all he could possibly drink, while the others needed to scavenge just to get a sip of dirty water.

Tails continued to lap up water, his long tongue acting like a ladle.

It happened to quickly for him to react. In the span of a second, massive jaws rose from the water, shattering the mirror surface of the pond. They clamped themselves in a death grip, with the fox's entire body nearly in his mouth.

Sonic could only watch. After that first deadly blow, he knew the tiny fox stood no chance. The hedgehog wanted more than anything in the world to help. To relieve, even share, the terribly pain Tails would be experiencing as massive, brown-green Vector shook him around like a rag doll. Snapping his giant jaws closed, Vector swallowed the fox's small, butchered frame. The water was churning and frothing violent red as the crocodile dropped back under, his meal devoured.

Sonic was in a state of shock. Not caring about the people watching him, he let hot tears break through. They represented Hugo and Rodney, Tails, and perhaps even Shadow. They represented every friend he had let down; every life he had failed to save. He couldn't remember the last time he had cried.

He spent the rest of the night in the chair, just staring; watching as the water leveled and smoothed until it was flat and glassy once again; taking in the blood shed on the banks of the pond.

Jaw set and brows lowered dangerously, Sonic hopped off of the chair. He opened the pop dispenser and pulled out a bottle of water. A second one filled its spot.

He twisted the lid open, and tossed it onto the bed. The crystal-clear water inside sparkled in the rosy light. Sonic shut his eyes, and poured. He emptied the bottle at his feet, bitterly relishing the cool.

Another bottle.

And another.

Soon, a pile a foot high of blue bottle lids sat on the bed. The floor of the small room was coated in an inch of chilly water, Sonic's planted feet numbing.

He stood, tossing bottle after bottle, each time naming someone who he felt he had failed. They floated in the water, mournful boats at his funeral.

At last, when he was up to his ankles in icy water, no bottle fell to replace the one before it. Sonic had used the entire supply.

"What do you think you're doing?" demanded the doctor's angry voice, sounding strangely anxious.

Sonic didn't reply, only glowered up at the pink orb.

Without thinking, all the rage condensed over his stay was channeled into a single punch.

When he landed again, there was darkness, except for the odd electrical flash from the smashed light. He closed his eyes and collapsed onto the bed, sending bottle caps flying everywhere.

* * *

**A/N: **Grr. I am so unhappy with this story :P. I dunno… it's just not working for me.

OOhh! Hannahh!! :DD ! I'm excited for-

Ahem… Err… Monday. That's right… I'm pumped for Monday BD. (Niice cover, huh?)

Anyways… yeah. I've been super busy. And I'm so happy about the reviews I got on chapter six :D! Nine is a big deal for me. Stop laughing DX. But yeah, thanks :P. Please review "again" :D!! I'd just adore breaking ten reviews on one chapter.

Cheers!

My god that's a nasty chapter TT.

--LA


	8. Un Petit Espoir

**A/N: **Resolution for this chapter: Don't take a year to update… AND try to downplay the nastiness. I'm seriously starting to hate the French language right now DX. I have too much French homework right now. Friggin' verbs…

And ahaha! Ten reviews :D! Thanks soo much :). Yes, that's a big deal for me! Soo… I put eexxtra love into this chapter :3!!

--LA

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Because I love you guys so much… I'm gunna tell you my master plan to overthrow SEGA :D! DUMDUM! MuttermutterCHAINSAWmutterwhispermutterTRAININGWHEELShisshisswhisperBARBIEDOLL!

But keep it on the DL…

For now, however, I'm gunna keep up my alibi… "I don't own anyone!"… Innoocceenttt.

* * *

Tails' memorial was one of beautiful simplicity and hidden intricacy, a summary of the fox's amazing person. Or at least as close as the not-so-artistic Sonic could make it. The illustration was not a cross, but two pointed ovals twisted and curled around each other in the most visually-pleasing way he could manage. Then, inside the large, simple shapes, he etched hundreds of small squiggles forming a sort of labyrinth.

Beneath the picture, he wrote the first thing that came to mind.

"Fly High."

He sat down onto the bed in mournful silence, staring in distaste at his soaked space. Despite the passion, the defiance, the boldness of his earlier actions, Sonic now whole-heartedly regretted flooding the room. Ankle-deep in the substance he detested so, should he step anywhere except for atop his bed and chair, he wished that he hadn't acted so rashly.

Actually, not that he was any sort of psychiatrist, he believed that the thoughtless act had been driven by some sort of subconscious self-torture plan, determined to punish him for letting so many people down.

Stupid conscience. What he wouldn't give to just drop all ties to the people he'd failed, escape the sopping prison, and run.

Growing itchy and uncomfortable curled up on the chair, he stepped across the room, trying to make as little contact as possible with the pool at his feet.

Sonic, obviously still not over his devastation, could honestly no longer bear to watch out the window. He still needed some time to get over the emotional blow of losing Tails, but he considered himself resilient when it came to such things.

Sonic was actually almost enjoying the near-darkness; it was his first taste of it in weeks. Why he had never thought to smash the light before, he was unsure. In all honesty, he never wanted to see another thing pink in his lifetime.

Pink. Poor Amy. He dared glance at the window, half certain that some new murder scene would be laid out. But the room was silent and still, the water black and flat and ominous. He knew, having charted out a kind of simple map in his mind, that Amy's hole was a few feet away from the center of the room, at the base of a clump of unruly grass.

Having been incapable of raising his hopes enough to actually expect to see anything, he was shocked to notice Cream hop out into the clearing. He had forgotten about her… For a split second, he wondered why she was risking coming out in the open like that… until he remembered that she had been relieved of her predator. With Tails gone, she hadn't much to fear, so long as she kept her distance from the water.

Long ears pressed to her back, she began grazing happily, loping about whenever she depleted a patch.

Sonic found it hard to comprehend anyone feeling even the slightest bit content any more… especially while so near to him. He was pretty sure that his melancholy outlook would be too overbearingly contagious for anyone or anything in the area to retain even a remotely happy outlook. But there she was; safe, and rightfully happy to be.

The hedgehog turned his head, finding it too painful to watch. By taking Tails' life, Vector had, incidentally, very likely saved Cream's.

Rather randomly, Sonic found himself thirsty. He smacked his lips, then bit his tongue, torn between the dryness of the bed, and the satisfying liquid in the dispenser.

His thirst finally winning the battle, he hopped across the room, taking goofy, high strides to keep his feet as dry as possible. It actually reminded him of Tails' unlucky water plight.

Moving as quickly as he could, he snatched the first can that came into reach, and twisted to return to the comfort of the bed.

He froze mid-step, eyes fixed on the row which used to be full of bottled water. He saw a hole. His heart gave and excited jump; could this actually be a flaw? And now, without the presence of the ever-watching camera, he ignored the wetness of his feet and poked his head as far into the dispenser as it would fit.

Yes, it was some sort of pipe. Although clearly much too small for him to fit into, it did permit a flicker of hope to reawaken. This tiny, fist-sized space was the medicine that his fallen spirits needed to jump back into function.

He smiled for the first time that day. Albeit, it wasn't so much a happy smile as one of resolve and relief and new hope, but it was a start, and it helped console him, working to coax away the gloom. He peered closer, squinting optimistically. As insignificant as the hole was, Sonic clung to the chance that it could be key in his escape. Ironically, it would be flooding the room that would save him. Just as his mind began to whiz into action, planning an escape, he was thrown back onto his tail by something round and blue plummeting into his face through the pipe.

"Cheese!" Sonic cried, genuinely delighted to see the blue chao. Lifting himself out of the rippling water, he grabbed the little creature and squeezed him while the chao nuzzled and snuggled up to him feverishly. "What're you doing here?"

Cheese seemed too flustered by gladness to think. He whizzed around the room several times, little wings vibrating at unbelievable speeds.

After several dozen laps, during which Sonic only watched in amusement, the chao finally touched down, plopping into the hedgehog's lap, only to resume snuggling like there was no tomorrow.

Sonic grinned. The chances of there being no tomorrow were growing smaller and smaller.

After several more minutes, when Cheese seemed to have finally calmed down a bit, Sonic returned to the dry oasis which was the bed, and placed the chao before him.

"How'd you get here, Cheese?" He asked, trying to keep a serious tone (which proved tricky, as he was ecstatic to see some sign that things were normal outside Eggman's prison.)

Cheese began to sing a seemingly endless chant of "chao chao chao, ch-chao!", of which Sonic couldn't make heads or tails. He just watched the chao chatter on and on, hovering and waving his little arms around animatedly.

After a few moments, he seemed to realize that he might as well have been speaking to the dismembered light above their heads, and plopped back onto his feet, looking irritated. Just as Sonic was about to say something, the chao blinked and squealed another chorus of "Chao".

Sonic raised an eye ridge, but before he could ask, the chao scurried in a hurried circle, his body moving too quickly for his overexcited mind to keep up. Soon, he stumbled and landed flat on his face.

From out of his tie collar, he pulled a piece of creamy white stationary. Sonic had never been so happy to recognize any one person's writing.

"Sonic," he read aloud. Even without reading the signature, Sonic knew who the letter was from. The neat, flawless cursive could only belong to one person.

"Dear Sonic," He read aloud. Reading it in his head made it feel too insecure and surreal; he couldn't believe it was actually there in his hands unless he heard it in his own voice. "I won't make this letter too long, as it needs to fit in Cheese's pocket. Three weeks ago, he hurried home alone, crying about a giant hole which ate you all. But I know, at least, that you are safe. Of course, we've all been required to watch you suffer the entire time. I'm extremely proud of you for staying strong. I hope that the package I've attatched will help. I fear for Cream and the others, and I wish you the best. Please come home.

Vanilla."

Sonic reread the letter a second time. It was unbelievable. Cheese tapped the hedgehog on the head and placed a rough brown package in his lap.

Sonic picked it up between his fingers, subconsciously knowing what it was.

He had never appreciated the rich metallic golden colour of the rings. Gold was a colour he saw a lot of; whether in machines or sunsets. But that first flash of gold he saw as he tore away the packaging was his salvation.

* * *

**A/N: **Shaddawp DX! I know the letter was pathetic :P.

And Ladyamalphia said "Let us party, for I are fourteen! And let there be cake and pepper of the doctor variety! WOOP!" … In other, less gibberish-y words, it's my birthday :). April 14th :3. The day the Titanic sank XD. Yeah :P. So I'm fourteen now (I've decided that none of you are scary creeper rapists so I don't mind revealing my age… gasp :)!)

So… erm… yeah. I'm having issues talking right now 0o.

You know what I'd adore for my birthday :)? More than ten reviews on this chapter 8D! That would make my day. Thanks a bunch for reading :).

--LA


	9. Liberté

**A/N: **Hello everyone :)! My, I'm in a good mood today 83! Not sure why, but I am, even though my computer is being a complete slow poke :D. Thank you all for the wonderful birthday wishes, and amazing reviews :)! You guys are too good to me :).

I love you all :D! Especially… YOU. Here, have an oreo.

--LA

* * *

Hmm… think about it, guys :). If, miraculously, I took ownership of SEGA, I wouldn't be here. I'd be mass-producing video games with plots 8D! And I'd send you all free copies, and I'd be loved :D. Woop!

* * *

Contrary to Sonic's loathing, Cheese seemed perfectly suited for water. Although he was very obviously no Olympic swimmer, he seemed perfectly delighted to pass the time splashing and wading delightfully in the lukewarm pool. However, he would stop every few moments to put on a deep, miserable face, freezing in random positions. Sonic actually felt sorry for him. He was probably remembering moments spent with Cream, his greatest companion. Little did he know, the rabbit was just a few inches of glass away.

Though he had tried with all of his verbal abilities, Sonic couldn't get the chao to explain any more than "chao, chao, chao.", and so he had given up on trying to ask how the little blue one had come to be there.

Instead, the hedgehog was happily daydreaming up ways of escaping, and feeling much more like his usual self than he had since Tails' demise. The greatly missed optimism which had long since escaped him was back with wonderful new vigor, and he was in a considerably fantastic mood. Eager to escape, but unsure of exactly how to, he was passing the time by scheming up obscure, far-out, and always very heroic escape plans.

He passed the ring back and forth between his hands, never letting it leave his sight. It was his lifeline, and every sparkle of gold only added to his determination to escape. Simply being in its presence helped him regain most of the morale he had lost, although losing Tails had chiseled out a deep gouge that he suspected could never be filled. However, thanks to amazing emotional resilience, he knew he'd be alright.

For the past few hours, since Cheese's unorthodox arrival, Sonic had began to wonder what Eggman was up to, now without a lab rat to prod. But the hedgehog easily slipped the doctor out of his mind, replacing him with more productive thoughts.

As his latest escape scheme, involving a very buff version of himself, reached its climax, he heard a crackling coming from above his head. Though very nearly unintelligible, snippets of the doctor's scrambled voice, a sound Sonic had hoped to never hear again, projected through the room, coming from the thought-to-be ruined light.

"Zzz-sit-Zzz-I'm-Zzz-"

Sonic furrowed his brow, trying to compute the message Eggman could be trying to send him. But before his mind concluded anything, the door opened quickly, and just enough to let a heavily armored, round-bellied doctor – now dressed in a ridiculous outfit just begging to be laughed at -slide though, before slamming it back shut carefully. He flashed a card over a spot on the door. Could it be a key?

Sonic blinked in surprise, then grinned. Not his usual, cocky smile, but a darker, wickeder smirk, dripping of foreshadow.

"Hey there, doc." He said. Before Eggman could open his pudgy mouth to reply, the hedgehog dove at him, ring held tightly in his fist.

The doctor, however, was equipped for, and expecting, attack. A blue, semi-opaque sphere engulfed him, acting as a 360-degree shield.

"Nice try." Eggman snorted. "I certainly hope you don't underestimate me so much as to think I'd come in here unprotected."

Sonic slid the ring into his glove, hiding it. He growled, but didn't speak.

"No," the doctor continued lightly, watching in mild amusement as Sonic rubbed his head. "I'm just here to repair that light. You didn't think I'd let you go too long without me checking in, did you?"

"That's not like you," the hedgehog remarked mildly. "Actually getting off your behind and doing some work yourself? I'm impressed."

Eggman just ignored him and walked past, shield keeping his polished boots dry from the flooded ground.

Sonic smiled. He had a ring, and he had Eggman locked in a room with him. It was too perfect. And, god knew the doctor's shields had never exactly proven infallible.

Once the doctor reached the bed, he turned to Sonic with a serious glare on his face.

"I'm taking down my shield." He said slowly, eyebrows looming over his dark glasses. "Sit."

Sonic raised an eyeridge.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me." Eggman said darkly. "Sit. Now."

"Such manners towards your… guest."

The doctor was, apparently, in no mood for jokes. He pulled an intimidating gun out of his pocket, glaring at the hedgehog all the while.

"_Sit._" He repeated. Sonic raised his arms and obliged, as Cheese squealed and dove beneath the bed in terror.

"Fine, fine." He said airily. "No need to be rude."

A mini-tidal wave formed where he landed, creating ripples that quickly spread throughout the entire room.

The blue spherical guard disappeared, but Eggman still pointed the gun in a sturdy grip. Sonic knew that, with on shot, a twitch of one finger, he'd be splattered across the room. But he was too confident to worry… he had a ring. Stepping onto the bed with both eyes fixed cautiously on his subdued prisoner, the doctor reached for a tool kit, hidden in the bag suspended around his wide waist.

Sonic was waiting for the right opportunity to strike. He wanted Eggman to look away.

Rather than pulling any fixing utensils out of his box, he pulled a tiny, but clearly sophisticated, robot that he lifted above his head in a hand.

The robot raised delicate arms and began tinkering away at the light, repairing it using some of the most bizarre instruments Sonic had ever seen. But Eggman was too stubborn to shift his gaze.

Suddenly, his creation fell off of his palm, landing with a bounce on the bed.

Bingo.

Instinctively, the doctor looked down at it. Sonic clenched his fist and dove at his captor, careful to kick the gun away before Eggman could react.

There was a stifled yell, a large splash accompanied with an unpleasant bam, and then silence.

The doctor lay unconscious on the floor, glasses askew. Sonic grinned, giving the ring in his hand a grateful squeeze.

"I owe ya one, Vanilla." He muttered, beaming at the water bottle pipe, and leaning over to grab the key out of Eggman's pocket.

After a moment, Eggman let out a pained groan, turning over. Before he could recover, Sonic grabbed him by the throat.

"Tell me how to fix them." He demanded flatly. The doctor gasped for breath. He never was one to put up much of a fight without the aid of his machines.

"O… kay" He choked, beady eyes bulging in terror as his skin began to take on a maroon tinge. Sonic slackened his grip, but didn't let go. He could feel the ring digging into his palm, and thought that in would likely live a donut-shaped bruise on Eggman's neck.

"Out the door…" he said, groping for the key on his person.

"Don't bother." Sonic told him lightly. "I've already got it."

"Down the hall…" Eggman continued, his face turning steadily blue, "to the right…"

"Sounds good to me!" Sonic remarked. "That colour looks good on you, Eggy. It does wonders for your complexion."

With that, he raised a fist, and knocked the doctor back into unconsciousness.

Cheese reappeared, poking his head out from under the bed nervously. Sonic winked at him.

"Heya, buddy." The hedgehog said brightly, "C'mon… Let's get out of here."

The chao zoomed over in delight, tackling his new hero. He followed Sonic as the hedgehog unlocked the door, unsure of what to expect to see on the other side.

No metal-walled corridor had ever felt more open, more welcoming. That cookie-cutter hallway, that the doctor never seemed to build a base without, looked like the perfect place to take a few victory laps of glorious freedom. Temporarily leaving Cheese in his wake, Sonic zoomed forwards. At that moment, the sound of his metallic, lightning-fast footfalls was the most fabulous noise ever resonated.

Onward he sprinted, not quite sure where the hallway was taking him. A door on the right side of the passage froze him. That was it.

* * *

**A/N: **Ooh one moree :)! Hey, guess what? I've actually got a good excuse for taking so freepin long this time! Kay, like I wrote a thousand words in like one night… and it just sat there at that for a couple of days. By the time I was finished, and went to upload, FFnet wouldn't even let me log in :S! But it's fixed now, so goodie.

In other news, my good mood went away for a bit there… I had a bit of a half-assed identity crisis. Pff. I'm not going to send the link, but in my browsings on DA, I found a stamp that kinda messed me up XD. I mean, it doesn't really apply to me all that much, but it still bugged me. It went something like this:

"Got a fanfic that takes up most of your time? Are you proud of it… etc… but despite that, do people bash you etc. does that crush you? If you answered yes to any of those questions, than you take your fanfic way to seriously. It's not going anywhere… Go make something original. Trust me, you'll thanks yourself."

I dunno, but this messed me up a bit :P. Then I thought it through, and came up with a good argument. I mean, it's not like any of us expect our fanfics to be published… but I know I write mostly for practice. Practice makes perfect, right :)? So by writing this as a hobby, it helps improve my writing for where it matters… school 'n such. And there are such nice people :3!... and nothing beats a review 8D. And…

Oh, I've got to run XD! Off to wrestling –M-… it's 7:10, and I have to walk to school. Thanks for reading, and review please :)!

--LA


	10. Au Revoir

**A/N: **Wowee :)… chapter ten :D. Soo… this is the end :)! My gawsh, I'm going to write some fluff before my next serious story XD… just to detox myself from all this negative killing stuff C:. I have to say… even though it really didn't come out quite how I would've liked, it's my most successful story yet C:!... at least as far as reviews go. And, in my opinion, reviews go a loonng way ;).

And ohoho Myy goodness, guys. I spent my Sunday (the day I wrote the majority of this chapter) caddying a bridge tournament. How fun does THAT sound? I get to spend my weekend making minimum, _minimum_ wage and hanging out with a bunch of old people. Man, they keep complaining that it's too cold... then five minutes later, there's somehow some magical consensus that it's too hot. And the women smell like... old lady perfume XD! Thank... friggin god I had time to snatch the laptop... because I don't know if I could survive six hours of this with just my sketchbook (wonderful as it is). So... this chapter should be up when I get home Sunday night :). I am without internet, but I can survive. Heehee, some of them are so adorable, though XD. They're all nice :P... but then others are all grumpy and get mad at me when I mess up... can't really blame them, mind... I do it a lot -.-'. And you know, actually it's an insanely easy job XD. I get to sit around and get up every twenty minutes or so to move cards from one table to another :P. So I'm not complaining too much :)... and it's better than the last time I did this. It was three eight-hour days, and I made 180 (still wayy below minimum wage)... and the conductor dude kept calling me Emmy :P D:.

Oh, and can anyone tell me what is freekin' up with this laptop 0o? All the keys are doing funny things D:. When I press the question mark button, I get É. What did I do XDÉ... GAH- ??, and when I try and make an apostrophe, I get È. Why... is thisÉ D: **?! **

So, if you happen to find a È... Dammit, quotation marks too D:!... if you happen to find a... okay... the hell**?** I can... **'**... t even find it D:! Oh wait, there it is XD. It doesn't even show it on the key :S. So anyways. If you happen to find an **"È"**, please bear in mind that I'm using an oddball for a computer.

Aanywho, thanks again :D!

--LA

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Hellpp me, guys 0o... they're getting too warm, and taking off their sweaters TT... Butt yeah, I donèt... GAWSH DARNIT!... I DO NOT own anybody D:!

* * *

Evidently, the door had not been built with hedgehog ergonomics in mind. Sonic had to jump into the air just to reach the key scanner, a glowing green pad mounted beside the door, unlike the one in his room. With a small thought towards Cheese, now wandering the corridor all alone, Sonic watched to door slide open, to reveal a second one. Luckily, it too peeled away to reveal a surprisingly tiny, cramped room. In fact, the hedgehog was amazed that the doctor could even fit inside.

Sonic entered, peering around at the bright screens that wallpapered the tiny nook. Though he didn't catch any movement, he knew right away that they were monitors, showing the only two rooms Sonic had seen in a month.

The small space was split into quadrants, based on the camera angle. Sonic grinned when he noticed the large, red island popping out of the floor in his room, still unconscious.

"Sleeping on the job?" Sonic asked with a grin, unable to stop himself from commenting. "I'm ashamed."

Laugh over, he then turned his head seriously towards the largest of the screens, knowing it was time to get down to work. This one was different from the others; clearly not a display for a security camera, but an oversized computer monitor. Peering closer, he noticed a keyboard built into the screen, though he didn't recognize half of its symbols. He thought mildly that, at such an angle, typing could cause some nasty carpal tunnel syndrome.

The display was intricate and full of confusing text zipping past so quickly that he couldn't catch a thing. He frowned, regretting not interrogating the doctor further... he hadn't the remotest idea what he was supposed to do.

For lack of a better plan, he prodded a random set of keys, letting the clacking sound reverberate around the tight space. Though the smell in there was metallic and sharp, he always enjoyed that sound. Maybe it reminded him of Tails. Without paying much thought to why the touch screen keys would make noises, he watched more text whirr past his eyes. Maybe the doctor liked the sound too, he thought mildly.

After a few fruitless moments of watching the nonstop cascade of words, he decided to investigate the keyboard again.

It was full of mathematical symbols he'd only seen briefly in complex plans of Tails'. But then, every so often, in a seemingly random pattern, he caught a good old English character.

Without much idea what he was doing, he tried typing the obvious things; Egg, Eggman, Maria... but no luck.

He sighed, seriously not wanting to return to his former prison to further question the unconscious doctor. With a frown, the hedgehog tried a few more combinations of words, leaning in so close to the screen that the rest of the room was forgotten.

Unfortunately, he was no detective. The detectives were locked up in mindless forms, one in beneath murky water, one hidden in a tree, and one... Sonic furrowed his brow. Where had Charmy been anyways? He felt a nervous squirm from his naval. The bee was so small... had he really stood a chance?

Exhaling in disappointment, Sonic pulled away from the screen, exercising his eyes by peering around to each corner of the room with heavy blinks.

All seemed well in the rooms... everything appeared to be at ease, until he noticed Cream loping over to the pond. He blinked in surprised horror.

He was free from his room, but here he was, in the same situation... watching helplessly through a piece of glass.

"Don't do it, Cream..." He breathed in shock, wishing desperately that he could just slide through the screen, melt into the display to play hero again, rather than victim.

_Clack, clack, clack... _

In too much of a panic to pay the sound any attention, Sonic turned desperately towards the computer and began to type as if his life depended on it.

_Clack, clack, clack... _

Whoever was making the footfalls needed to learn to pick up their feet.

Sonic blinked. Footfalls?

He jumped as if he'd been jolted by an electric shock, and turned his head towards the monitor showing his room in dread. No unconscious, red body stood out in the dark water.

Before his mind could react, he felt the cool metal of a gun pressed to the back of his head.

"Don't move a muscle." Growled a too-familiar voice Sonic had hoped to never hear again.

"Watch where you're pointing that thing, Eggy." The hedgehog replied, keeping his voice cool and calm.

"I am going to escort you back to your room, hedgehog." Eggman said dangerously. "And don't even try to resist... because if you do, you'll be the next Tails."

Unseen by the doctor, Sonic rolled his eyes, and cast a nervous glance towards the monitor. Cream was edging closer casually, nibbling on grass near the shore.

"I'm sorry, doctor." Sonic said quietly. "But I'm not croc fodder."

Before the slower human had time to think, Sonic ducked and, avoiding the huge blast of a laser, dove behind Eggman. The hedgehog quickly delivered a strong kick to the back of his round head, causing the gun to go flying into the air, where Sonic snatched it.

Blocking the doorway, he smirked as the doctor turned slowly.

"Put them back to normal." Sonic commanded. "Now."

Eggman widened his eyes nervously.

"Okay, okay..." he turned back around, and quickly typed something onto the keyboard. "Just don't shoot."

Sonic grinned, but it felt too easy somehow. Knowing Eggman, he would have some nasty trick up his sleeves.

"There. Done." The doctor said, looking extremely pitiful and sporting a large black eye that bordered a cracked eyeglass.

Sonic gave him a suspicious look, and adjusted his gaze only enough to see the monitors.

The pool, usually mirror-flat and dark, was bubbling ominously. Sonic furrowed his brow slightly, and watched as the water began to rise.

"Nice try."

Sonic pressed the gun into the back of Eggman's pudgy neck threateningly. The doctor, stubborn as a bull, crossed his arms and refused to move.

"You're not going to kill me, Sonic." He said quietly.

Sonic snorted. "Oh? Why not?"

"Because you need me more than I need you."

"How's that?"

"Well, without me, you're stuck with a bunch of dumb beasts for friends." In the reflection of the monitor, Sonic could see him flash a wicked smile. "And I know how much you depend on your friends."

Sonic blinked. He did have a point.

"If you kill me now, your friends die." He nodded towards the monitor zoomed in close on the pond. Its water was rising dangerously, beginning to spill onto the sandy bank. "If you don't, I'm not telling you anything... and they die."

Sonic needed a moment to think it over. Eggman, far from brave, was likely bluffing. Not about his friends dying - he could see the water rise for himself – but about not talking. Eggman simply valued his own life too much to give it up, even if it would cause unbelievable devastation towards his favourite hedgehog.

So, it became a mind game, at which the doctor had the upper hand. Time was of the essence for the hedgehog, but Eggman could wait as long as it took for the animals to drown. Sonic, however, continued to drill the gun into the back of the doctor's head, determined to win.

"You'll make a pretty amazing ruler of the world when your brains are splattered around this room." Sonic hissed in his ear. The hedgehog was pleased to see beads of sweat form and drip down the human's neck.

"I mean," he continued, mouth repulsively close to his enemy's sweaty pork chop of a neck, "if my friends die... not that you give a care about them... I'll kill you, but you'll have about five seconds of satisfaction knowing that you beat me. It's a win-win situation for you, isn't it?"

The doctor didn't reply. Sonic saw his hands shaking slightly. Hopefully they were engaged in some mental battle with the brain, fighting about whether or not to give in.

"And after all..." the hedgehog continued, "The Eggman Empire had a nice little stint, didn't it? They might remember you for this in some History text book a few years from now..."

That was the straw that broke the camel's back. Eggman's thirst for fame and glory rocketed his hands to the keypad, sending them into a frenzy of desperate typing.

Sonic set his eyes on the screens. The water had reached the section where Amy and Knuckles' burrows were. Underground, and with such tiny lungs, Sonic doubted they could survive very long. Cream had resorted to crouching in a corner, large eyes whizzing about anxiously.

"Faster." Sonic growled, though he doubted it physically possible for fingers to whirr around the keyboard any faster without starting a fire.

A stressful moment later, Eggman relaxed his arms, panting slightly and sweating profusely. To make sure he'd actually done his job, Sonic inspected the screens. He saw a familiar flash of rosy light.

And that was good enough for him.

"How do I get in?" he demanded.

"With the key." The doctor said nervously. "It's the door beside yours."

"And how do I get out?"

"Just follow the hallway."

"Perfect."

With another grin, Sonic whacked the doctor in the head with the gun handle, knocking him back into unconsciousness.

Leaving his former captor in a heap on the metal floor, Sonic zoomed down the hall, grabbing a flustered Cheese in one hand as he passed.

"We're gonna see Cream!" Sonic said, elated, as he halted before the door. Cheese squealed in delighted, bouncing about in Sonic's grasp.

With an excited beam, he opened the door and tossed the key aside.

The sight that met his ecstatic eyes when he entered made him fall to the floor laughing, despite the ghosts that haunted the room.

Sputtering and rolling about, covered in soil, and completely naked, both Amy and Knuckles were struggling to escape the mountain of dirt covering them.

Cheese zoomed over to a terrified Cream, still kneeling in the corner.

Bear naked, Rouge hung from a tree for a few moments, apparently asleep, until her feet lost grip, and she fell to the floor in a flustered mass.

Espio, dignified as always, followed her lead, but landed without a sound, and peered around in serious curiosity.

Vector appeared loudly, thrashing about in the water with an angry roar.

Knuckles was the first to speak as soon as he composed himself slightly.

"Where is he?" He demanded angrily. Sonic was unbelievably happy to hear that furious voice. "Shadow? Where'd you go?"

Sonic decided it was best to wait for everyone to wake up fully before he explained. Instead, he walked over to Cream, who was shaking in terror and sobbing. When she saw him, brown eyes wide with fear, she dove at him and began to cry into his chest, apparently unaware of her nudity.

Smiling fondly, but slightly uncomfortable, Sonic patted her head affectionately.

"Hey," he said, tilting her head to look at him. "you're okay."

She gave him a watery smile as he turned to deal with the others.

Both Rouge and Amy, who had discovered their own lack of clothing, had resorted to crouching, and hugging their legs tightly to their chests, staring around furiously.

"What's the deal, Sonic?" the bat demanded. He could only smile. "What are you smirking about, you creep?" she demanded, looking affronted, but slightly pleased.

"Yeah, Sonic..." Vector coughed, climbing out of the water. "What gives?"

Sonic, though, couldn't help but stare around at them with a huge grin on his face.

"Let's get out of here first." He said. "I'll tell you after."

"How do we get out?" Espio asked quietly, looking out the doorway at the long metal passage.

"Just follow the hallway." Sonic replied. He jogged to the center of the room, and picked up a soggy, piece of torn red fabric. He handed it to Amy, who eyed it in disgust.

"Do you expect me to wear that?" She asked. Sonic shrugged, and passed Rouge a considerably well-preserved chunk of her suite.

"That or we could have a streaking party."

Blushing slightly, Amy tied it around her waist to make a bottom, and meekly took a second piece from Sonic for a top. When she was decent, she got to her feet shyly, and picked up a section of Cream's filthy dress, brining it over to her.

Once all the females were dressed, everyone filed out of the room, still seemingly unaware of everything that had happened.

Sonic lingered, scanning the room, and finally letting the sadness catch up to him. No matter how fast he ran, the sadness always caught up when he stopped for a breath.

"Hey..." Vector's loud voice carried into the room. "Where's Charmy?"

Putting off telling them the bad news, Sonic turned away. From the corner of his eye, he noticed an off-white pebble protruding slightly from the dark soil where Amy had burrowed.

"Yeah!" said Amy, sounding confused. "And where's Tails?"

Sonic crouched down, leaning closer. Gingerly, he picked up.

It wasn't a pebble. The ivory infant hedgehog, still in its transformed shape, was still and limp. I would be Amy's child... there was no other explanation. Sonic squeezed it gently, closing his eyes in sorrow. He was not telling his surviving friends about what had happened. That guilt was his, and wasn't for them to bear.

He gently placed the tiny body back in the soil, burying it softly.

"I'm sorry." He whispered, patting yet another grave closed.

With a calming breath, he got to his feet and turned to leave. And, he told himself, he would leave it behind. Because after all, no matter how many friends he'd lost, how many people he'd failed, he could always run... something he'd never take for granted again.

* * *

**A/N: **Well, there y'have it :D! As usual, I'm not very fond of the ending. I hate endings /. I'll probably rewrite it sometime XD. But... tada :D! It's finished :). I know this is pretty short for a long-term story, but I couldn't milk the "boohoo self-pity" concept any longer... it was driving me out of my head. Heehee, keep in mind that every single apostrophe, quotation mark, exclamation point, and question mark pained me Dx. I had to search the keyboard like every time :P.

Oh my gosh, guess what I just heard this old guy say (he's one of the adorable ones) XD? "tragedy has struck! I'm halfway through a book, and I can't find it!" and all the people he was playing with were like :O! "Do you know the title?!" it was adorable XD.

I can't thank you guys enough for reading, and especially for reviewing C:! The thirteen reviews I got on chapter eight was SUCH a bit deal for me :D... and I am so grateful. s

I never want to see another French word again.

I love you all to death C:!

--LA

P.S: Reviews puhlease 8D?!... No? Well take this :D...

"O, wow!" Shadow said once upon a time. He was so mysterious and stuff... and don't forget it. "I am seww luffable!"

Then, allz of a sudden, Emma appeared with a mace.

"RAWRAR!" she declared. "I will killeth you if I dun't get le reviews :D!"

And Shadow said "Oh noes! No waay!" And he wrote some emo poetry, because that's what Shadow does.

So review or Shadow dies. The nice thing is that I couldn't care less about him :3.

P.P.S: ... I ap ologise for that 0.o. Thanks for reading XD.


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